THERE will be a change to the Status Quo at next year’s Witney Music Festival.

New chairman Eric Marshall hopes to build on the success of the event and has secured original Status Quo dummer John Coghlan as headliner.

The Oxfordshire drummer – a member from their sixties beginnings to 1981 – will headline the Leys recreation ground festival scheduled on May 30.

John Coghlan’s Quo feature hits from the Whatever You Want stars, who reformed with the 1970 to 1976 line-up in 2013.

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Mr Coghlan, from Burford, said: “It’s a honour really to be asked to play with my band – we’ll be playing all the old Status Quo stuff.

“It’s nice to be asked to take part in a local event and I’m really looking forward to it.”

A new team has come together to take the festival into a new era alongside one of the original founders Stuart Foster.

Mr Marshall said: “We are looking very closely at the bands we will have on at the festival and also we are looking to mix things up in terms of what else you can do at the festival.

“We are looking at having two main stages with the idea being there will be constant music, as one band is playing the next will be setting up, so there’ll be no break in music. We’d had other smaller tents as well – School of Rock will be there. The complete line-up and change of layout is still yet to be unveiled.”

Last year’s event at the Leys recreation ground attracted around 3,500 festivalgoers.

The main acts included Million Faces and The Standard.

Mr Marshall said: “We are aiming for 5,000 this year and we want it to become a flagship event for the whole town.”

The festival began in 2007 as a series of small gigs in local pubs before moving to the Leys in 2013.

Previous chairman Derek West is stepping down this year after seven years in charge.

Mr West said: “It’s great to see a young team get on board with fresh ideas and a new approach. We’ve built it up over seven years and I feel I’ve taken it as far as I can. Eric showed an interest and I’m sure he’s a lot better equipped than I am.”

Mr Marshall said: “We want to build on the foundations Derek has put in place. He’s done a fantastic job. It’s time for a fresh approach, new ideas and a different perspective.”

The festival is held every year in memory of Jo-Marie Foster, Stuart’s sister, who died in her sleep at the age of 21, in November 2005.

Mr Foster said: “She always supported music and supported the town and the festival is in her memory.”


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